What do you say when burning joss paper? There is no set prayer — plain words will do

Is there a standard prayer?

The most useful answer on this page fits in one line: there is no passage you are required to recite.

We searched our own research files and found none. Online you will find plenty of “prayer templates for burning joss paper”. None of the ones we found is signed or cites a source, each says something different, and we could not trace any of them back.

So we will not copy them, and we will not rework one and present it to you as “tradition”. That is how this site works throughout: we would rather say less than make something up.

More importantly, having no standard version is not a gap. At home, this has mostly been spoken. One person standing there talking to another, with nobody marking an exam paper.

What did the classical prayers actually say?

Now for the part that does have a source. Formal words for ancestral rites were already being written down between the pre-Qin period and the Han.

In the 《儀禮·少牢饋食禮》 (a chapter of the Yili, the classic on ritual), the officiant who speaks for the host, called the 祝, says this at the main rite:

「孝孫某,敢用柔毛、剛鬣、嘉薦、普淖,用薦歲事於皇祖伯某,以某妃配某氏。尚饗!」

— 《儀禮·少牢饋食禮》

Notice the character 某, “so-and-so”, which appears again and again. Those are blanks. You put in your own name and the title of your ancestor. In other words, even the ancients were filling in a template, not memorising a fixed text word for word.

柔毛、剛鬣、嘉薦、普淖 are old names for the offerings. Nobody calls them that today.

The closing words, 尚饗, are explained plainly in the Taiwan Ministry of Education’s 《成語典》 (Dictionary of Chinese Idioms), under the entry 〈伏維尚饗〉: “a set phrase in old sacrificial texts, respectfully inviting the spirit of the dead to come and take the offerings” (our translation). In short: “please take this.”

Now something closer to home. The Family Rituals (《家禮》, traditionally attributed to Zhu Xi) is a handbook for rites in the household. Its prayer for the seasonal offerings, in chapter five, reads:

「維年歲月朔日子,孝元孫某官某,敢昭告於皇高祖考某官府君、皇高祖妣某封某氏:氣序流易,時維仲春,追感歲時,不勝永慕。敢以潔牲柔毛、粢盛醴齊,祗薦歲事……尚饗。」

— 《家禮》, chapter five, ancestral rites (Siku Quanshu edition). The original has no punctuation; the punctuation is ours. The edition writes 嵗; we use the common form 歲.

The two passages are more than a thousand years apart and share almost no wording. But lay them side by side and the skeleton is the same, and it has only six slots:

The two passages do not run in exactly the same order. The table groups them by what each phrase does, not word for word. Note also that 來日丁亥 comes from the divination for choosing the day, in the same chapter of the Yili, not from the prayer quoted above.

Slot ⑤ deserves a moment on its own. 不勝永慕 means a longing so deep it will not stop.

Even a formal ritual handbook set aside one slot purely for feeling.

So if you stand in front of the fire and say “Grandpa, I miss you”, that is the same slot, structurally, as the classical rite. It is not careless, and it is not too informal. That is the slot.

How do you fill the six slots in your own words?

No memorising. When you are there, just go through these six things:

1. Call them. Whatever you always called them: Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Godfather. There is no need to switch to a formal ritual title.
2. Say who you are. “It’s Ming, your grandson.” It sounds unnecessary, but it steadies you. If you live abroad, you can add where you are now: “I’m in Toronto these days.”
3. Say what day it is. “It’s Chung Yeung.” “It’s your death anniversary.” “Nothing special today, I just wanted to talk to you.” The last one counts just as much.
4. Say what you have brought. “I’ve burned a packet for you.” “I’ve asked someone to burn it for me.” Just say it as it is.
5. Say whatever you want to say. This slot has no template, and it should not have one. That you miss them, how the family is, what you did this year, that you are sorry: any of it.
6. Ask them to take it. “Take it, it’s yours.” “Use it.” “Buy yourself whatever you like.” One line is enough.

Missing one or two is fine. The six slots are a prompt, not a form you must complete before you are allowed to hand it in.

What might it sound like?

To be clear first: these two are examples, not rules. You can use them as they are, but they will work better once they sound like you.

Example one: you cannot go back, so someone is burning it for you.

“Grandpa, it’s Ming, your grandson. It’s Chung Yeung today. I’m in Toronto and can’t come back, so I’ve asked someone to burn a packet for you. Everyone at home is well, so don’t worry. Take it, and buy whatever you need.”

Example two: your first time leading it, and you do not know how to start.

“Grandma, it’s your youngest girl. This is my first time doing this myself, so don’t mind if I get it wrong. These are for you, please take them. I miss you.”

Neither is polished. No balanced phrases, no four-character idioms, and one of them admits halfway through that it might be getting things wrong.

That is deliberate. This is how it really sounds when you open your mouth. A smooth, perfectly balanced prayer would not sound like you at all.

What if you say it silently, cry, or get a word wrong?

Can you say it silently, in your head?
Yes, you can. We found no source that requires it to be spoken aloud, and the claims in both directions could not be traced, so we do not present either one to you as a rule.

What if you start crying?
You will see claims online such as “do not cry at the grave”. We could not trace where that comes from, so we do not treat it as a rule. If you want to cry, cry. You are there because you miss them.

What if you do not speak Cantonese, or you mix Chinese and English?
The shop answered a related question once, and we will quote it as it was said:

“As long as the person receiving it can read it, it works — Chinese, English or romanisation are all fine, though of course Chinese is the most common and the safest.”

— the shop, 1 September 2026 (translated from Cantonese)

To be honest about it: that answer was about the words written on the packet, not about what you say out loud. They are two different questions, and we will not blend them into one answer.

On speaking, this is simply our own view: you are talking to someone you know, who knows you. The most natural language is the one the two of you always used. If Grandma spoke Toisanese to you, speak Toisanese. If she was Grandma to you all your life, call her Grandma.

What if you get the name wrong, or lose your place?
Pause, and say it again. We found no source saying that a mistake means starting over.

Do Buddhism and Daoism have formal texts for this?

Yes — and they differ from one tradition to another. There is no single version everyone uses.

• In Buddhism, the framework is 迴向, dedicating merit. The Chinese Wikipedia entry 〈迴向〉 explains it as turning the merit you have cultivated towards all beings or the whole dharma realm (our translation). The point is “I share the merit I have made with you”, not “I have sent you something”.
• In Daoism, there are liturgies, rites and 疏文 (memorials): formal documents with set formats and procedures, usually led by a Daoist priest. The Chinese Wikipedia entry 〈靈寶派〉 describes that school as known for its offering rites and for rites that deliver the souls of the dead (our paraphrase).

We will not paste a dedication or a memorial here for you to read out, for two reasons.

First, we could not find a version we could trace to a specific school and a specific liturgical text. Second, these texts belong to particular lineages; they are not public templates. Handing them out would be overstepping.

If you want to use one, ask the monk, the Daoist priest or the temple on your own side. That is not a brush-off. They are the ones who can answer it properly.

What could we not find?

As always on this site, we list what we could not verify:

• The various “prayer templates for burning joss paper” circulating online: we could not trace a single one.
• Whether Guangdong or Hong Kong folk practice has an agreed spoken formula: we found no academic or official record.
• “Say it three times”, “bow three times before you burn”: not found.
• Rules about staying silent or getting a word wrong: no source in either direction.

Written out like this, the page can look as if it does not answer the question. But that is the honest position: the only things we can be sure of are the two sourced classical models and the six-slot skeleton they share. Beyond that, every family does it its own way.